Empty shop

Empty shop
Originally uploaded by bobmendo

Jews for Jesus began about 32 AD, give or take a year. So says our sign outside our NYC and San Fran offices. And what's a beginning? It's a chance to start over, to make things new, to create. This week another university (UNSW) began and with it, so many thoughts and hopes for many. But really each year begins like our book shop began some years ago. A tabula rasa, an empty tablet, ready to have things inscribed and filled in. A chance to make things new and to make a difference in the dark world in which we live.

Our shop is filled now with books and CDs and tshirts and shofars and mezuzahs and menorahs and so many wonderful things, but one day the shop will probably be empty again.

Sunday a pastor was killed in his church in the US, and we can but weep for the emptiness which will attend his family and church family for a while. I guess it's true what the Bible says that we start and end the same "ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

What do we do with our lives during the days? What do we do to fill in the room of our lives with stuff and clutter and invigoration and spirit? At the end of our lives, when things are done and dusted, what difference will we have made?

Good thoughts on an autumn afternoon here in Sydney. In some settings in Australia and New Zealand the leaves are changing colours and winter is peeking around the corner. Let's fill in our houses and stores and rooms and lives with meaning and meaningfulness.

Justice and Mercy ...in one!

Sydney, Australia - Former Moriah student Jaron Hoffenberg has been given a good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to vandalising the Jews for Jesus’ storefront in Bondi Junction last month.

In Downing Centre Local Court on Friday, February 20, Magistrate William Brydon said he was satisfied that Hoffenberg, 19, from Dover Heights, was repentant for his actions in the early morning of January 29 when he urinated on the Oxford Street store’s door and threw a brick through its window, causing about $3000 worth in damage.

The incident was captured on CCTV.

Weighing up the defendant’s remorse and age against the attack’s “anti-Semitic flavour”, however, he found Hoffenberg guilty of one charge of malicious damage to property with conviction and placed him on a one-year good behaviour bond.

Hoffenberg was also found guilty of offensive behaviour and willful and obscene exposure in public.

No conviction was recorded and Hoffenberg was given a two-year good behavior bond.

Separately, Terence Abrams, 19, from Dover Heights, who was arrested with Hoffenberg on the night and charged with one count of malicious damage to property, has had his case delayed by request until March 18.

Brydon said: “There’s no doubt [Hoffenberg] is remorseful and contrite for his behaviour.

“I accept that alcohol was a part of this, but people have to be responsible for themselves.”

Hoffenberg's lawyer Richard Shakenovsky had earlier argued before the court that the vandalism attack was “alcohol induced” and “out of character” for the University of Sydney engineering student who had no prior history of arrests.

He also noted that Hoffenberg had apologised for his actions and paid for the damage to property.

Jews for Jesus national director Bob Mendelsohn told The AJN that he had accepted Hoffenberg’s apology and payment.

“I’m not vindictive. He’s sorry. No need to keep shaming him,” said Mendelsohn.

It is not the first time Jews for Jesus, which opened the shop on Oxford Street in October 2004, has been the target of such attacks.

There was a spate of attacks in 2005, in which the shop was vandalised on three separate occasions.

Hell and all its fury

Kevin Rudd weighed in on Sunday with this comment, "Hell in all its fury has visited the good people of Victoria in the last 24 hours." As I write this on Sunday at 7 pm, Channel 9 reported 65 people reported dead and 660 homes lost in the bushfires throughout Victoria. New South Wales premier Nathan Rees rang his Victorian counterpart John Brumbie to offer help and condolences. The television showed Prime Minister Rudd hugging in solace a Victorian man who had lost everything. No feeling person can be left untouched.

The fire started in East Kilmore, 80km north of Melbourne, and covered a huge area as it pushed 30km east to Kinglake, through the small townships of Wandong, Glenburn, Strathewen and Clonbinane. On the radio and tv reports some are attributing 'angel' status to neighbours who helped out and are like heroes.

During the toss of the coin as the 3rd One Day International cricket began in Sydney at the Sydney Cricket Ground, both captains Ricky Ponting and Daniel Vittori of New Zealand, wore black arm bands to identify and mourn the losses in the bushfires in Victoria.

What can you do to help the victims?

National Australia Bank also established the Victorian Bushfire Relief Fund today, donating $1 million to the cause.

NAB Group Chief Executive Officer Cameron Clyne said the bank would work with customers and affected communities to provide relief.

"Our thoughts are with those personally affected, and we offer our heartfelt support and encouragement to the firefighters and volunteers who continue to battle to save properties," he said.

Donations to the Victorian Bushfire Relief Fund can be made at any NAB branch or via internet banking. BSB: 082-001. Account number: 860 046 797.

Victoria Police have urged those wishing to donate not to tie up 000 and other emergency hotlines and instead to call the Red Cross Information Line on 1800 727 077.

Usually in this blog, we comment on the news of the day and help you to sort out religious issues and especially the person of Y'shua. I believe we will get back to that soon enough, but for now, show compassion and help if you can, whether in the US or Australia or anywhere on the planet.

Certainly we could comment about 'hell and all its fury' being unleashed and how we need a hero. We need someone to save us. We need to be rescued. The 'preaching' is clear. I don't want to diminish that, but in this crisis, I want you to help provide for many, many Victorians who have lost everything. God help us to care.

Hotheads (Setanta, weather, Jews and Muslims, Economic crisis)

It's hot out there. And it's heating up, too. Sydney is set for record temps today and this weekend, and Melbourne continues the heat wave that almost knocked many out of the Australian (tennis) Open a week ago. Adelaide high today 41 and Melbourne 44. Buckle your seat belts and run to the library and museum and cinema.

Pictured is Setanta O'hAilpin who ripped into his teammate Cameron Cloke on Friday. It's not the first time O'hAilpin (sic) has been sat down for such behaviour.

Cloke has a black eye and a bruised jaw, and probably won't mention the effect of the groin kick by O'hAilpin either. Cain Ackland experienced O'hAilpin's rage in June 2007 being the brunt of another attack. And on a teammate. Shocking. The question has to be asked, "Is this hothead worth all the bother to the Blues?"

In the Middle East, things seem calm (not true), but here at home, Australian Muslims are "seething with anger" at what they perceive as the Australian Government's one-sided treatment of last month's Israeli incursion into Gaza, a Melbourne leader said yesterday.

Ramzi Elsayed, president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, said he had never seen the community so hurt or aggrieved, especially after acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Israel was responding to Hamas aggression after Hamas broke the ceasefire.

"It's as though they think one Jewish life is worth 100 Palestinians," he said. "Enough's enough. It's time to call the facts as they are. Israel broke the ceasefire on 4 November."

Responding to a Jewish threat to sever ties with Australia's Muslims if the president of its peak body did not withdraw a comparison between Gaza and the Holocaust, Mr Elsayed said a cooling-off period was inevitable anyway. This is reported in the Melbourne Age by Barney Zwartz.

"There's going to be some open wounds which will take time to heal. Tension and hatred has built as never before in the Middle East, and that's the danger in Australia."

The economic downturn has turned into a crisis and now an economic meltdown, no doubt a metaphor used in Aussie summer as the heat index rises and rage seems the only option for some. Wednesday the NAB in Neutral Bay was vandalized and contents taken from the ATM. The ABC reported yesterday that when the temperature rises, so does rage and anger. Agro is the watchword of the heated.

John Huxley, Paul Bibby and Malcolm Knox reported in the Sydney Morning Herald today about Craig Roberts. His answers seem timely and deserve to be heard.

Craig Roberts is the Neutral Bay Anglican minister of St Augustine's Church.

But just like the community's self-funded retirees and young unit-dwellers, its majority of "comfortable" well-to-do residents have been hurt by the [economic] crisis.

Just how badly was brought home to him when he officiated at the funeral of a local financial manager, one of two depressed young men to have committed suicide recently. "It was terribly emotional," he says.

Despite this week's recession package, Roberts fears the situation will worsen. A former financier, he speaks a language fallen high-flyers understand. He chastens them for linking their sense of self-worth to their net asset position. He advises them to extend "internal investment horizons" beyond the next deal, the next bonus, to the eternal.

He urges them to spend time with their children, instead of showering them with in-ground pools, Xboxes and Nike runners.

Not a bad thought, Craig. And for hotheads to cool down, a dose of godliness and God Himself is the right call. It puts the heat wave in perspective and calms aching hearts.

Isaiah the prophet wrote about this:
For Thou hast been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; For the breath of the ruthless Is like a rain storm against a wall. Like heat in drought, Thou dost subdue the uproar of aliens; Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the ruthless is silenced. (Isaiah 25.4-5)

Let's get it right with God and no matter what comes at us, fists, weather, economic woes... we can handle it all, in faith and calm.

Two things in view and a baby born of a virgin

Pamplona baluarte
Originally uploaded by al_loromanchego

Sometimes two people can be looking at different things and making comments in contrast, and sometimes one person can be looking at two different things at the same time and making comments. This could be confusing. Let me explain.

For the first, the story is told of two ladies sitting on the porch on a Wednesday evening in Tennessee. One is listening to the church choir practicing and the other is listening to the sounds of the crickets. The first, "Don't they make beautiful music?" Replied the second, "Yes, and I hear they do it by rubbing their legs together."

For the 2nd, and more timely to the season is the story told by Isaiah the Jewish prophet some 700 years before the birth of Jesus. Isaiah is writing his prophecy to encourage two different sets of folks. One living in his time, much like the wall and bridge we see in the photo, and the other group of people who are living 7 centuries later, much like the faint far-away building in the background of the photo.

The hint of how this works in found in Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14. There we read "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."

The hint? The Hebrew word for 'you' in verse 14 is in the plural. Whereas the context of the comforting words is a message to the king, King Ahaz, all of a sudden, there is a shift to make this plural. So a larger group can be assured of the sign, of the guarantee of God's presence. I believe this is the double view of the prophet.

The significance for us? God wanted to speak words of comfort to the king in 700 BC (or so) and that's good news for him. And God wants to speak good news and comfort to us about a virgin having a baby and his name would be "God with us" (That's how Immanuel translates).

When I hear the Christmas story, I don't think of Santa, or of presents or reindeer. I think of God comforting us, of sending his presence and of the redemption that's found only in the Son of the Virgin, Y'shua (Jesus), who gives eternal life to all who believe.

That's good news!

To all who read this blog... a very merry Messiah-mas!
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Actual text of Isaiah says this, "Not long after this, the LORD sent this message to King Ahaz: "Ask me for a sign, Ahaz, to prove that I will crush your enemies as I have promised. Ask for anything you like, and make it as difficult as you want." But the king refused. "No," he said, "I wouldn't test the LORD like that."Then Isaiah said, "Listen well, you royal family of David! You aren't satisfied to exhaust my patience. You exhaust the patience of God as well! All right then, the Lord himself will choose the sign. Look! The virgin* will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel--`God is with us.' By the time this child is old enough to eat curds and honey, he will know enough to choose what is right and reject what is wrong. But before he knows right from wrong, the two kings you fear so much--the kings of Israel and Aram--will both be dead. " (Isaiah 7.10-16)

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My new friend Alvaro, who lives in Madrid, shot this photo on a trip to Pamplona last month. Gracias, amigo, por la foto. Y Feliz Navidad y prospero año nuevo.

Australia: The movie

An Epic story: Australia

I’m from Kansas. I grew up there in what has become known as the “Land of Oz.” The themes from “Wizard of Oz” and even the Judy Garland song “Somewhere over the rainbow” feature sharply in “Australia” the movie.

Baz Luhrmann directs the movie. Giant actors like Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman make this story of our country bigger than life, or at least bigger than Errol Flynn! There are cattle driving scenes which could be found in ‘epic’ movies, but too many zooms for such a grand adjective. It’s just not big enough for me.

Ever-good as an actor, Bryan Brown brings the king into our movie houses, and when he waltzes with Nicole, we are transported to another era and another place.

Many other Aussie actors like Tony Barry are well chosen. The film shows the harsh life in the 1940s in our country, and an epic love story, it all goes to bring us to another place.

The trailer features the twice-said line, “Just because it is, doesn’t mean [that’s the way] it should be.” I liked that thought. We who are involved in thinking outside the traditional method of thinking, whether in religion like me, or in politics or in basketball or whatever, look beyond the traditional borders and actually break or seek to break them. For us the epic is an encouragement.

The movie speaks of racism in its ugliest colouring from the Stolen Generations (creamies, meaning offspring or mixed black and white people) to those who intersect and engage with them. Again, a very good subplot to discuss and consider. It’s an ugly part of Aussie and most Western civilization. Earlier this year (as the film also highlights in the end segment) our Prime Minister apologized for such activities. Thank you Mr Rudd.

So what is the ‘other place’ the movie takes us to? 1942 Darwin and Japanese bombing? Of course. To romance between Nicole and Jackman? Of course. But to Oz? That’s another question.

Nicole tells the young creamy a story, and glances down to get her topic from the newspaper of the day. The story: The Wizard of Oz. So a girl (is it Nic?) sets about to a far distant land (is it Faraway Downs, her homestead?) with her dog (Nic brings a horse) and gets caught in a storm (is it the business dealings with Brown’s character or the 2nd World War itself?). OK, the similarities are clear there.

But where is Nic’s Oz? Is it romance or the homestead? That’s missing for me. It’s no coincidence that Australia is nicknamed Oz (or Aus) for people of the world. And her people are Aussies. So is Luhrmann intimating that Australia is Oz, and Dorothy would never have clicked her ruby slippers if only she had found Sydney or Darwin on the Yellow Brick Road? Perhaps. And it is a great land. And the people are great.

All the while, I’m thinking about another place. And being transported to where no racism lives, and no place is as it is, only because it is. Things are the way they should be. Without apologies, we can all get there.

The place is Heaven. The owner is God and we can be tenants if we desire and long for such. We don’t earn our way there anymore than Dorothy earned her way to the farm in Kansas. It’s given to God’s children, one by one, to all who put their faith in Him and in His Son, Y’shua.

This is indeed, the ‘other place.’

And one to find out about. I recommend the Bible for you who want to know more. Great place to start. And hey, in 3 hours, the length of the epic Australia, you could get a lot of reading done. And may I recommend you start at say, John’s Gospel . That’s a biography by John of the person of Jesus. John lived with Jesus, so it’s a firsthand account. Very reliable.

Enjoy the movie. If you live here, you will probably like the movie better than those who have never been here. And enjoy the ‘other place’ too. That will last for a long, long time. And with great reviews, too.

A mother's love?

Mothers gone mad

The mother of a two-year-old boy whose body was found in a suitcase appeared in the NSW Supreme Court today for the first time since she was charged with his murder. Rachel Pfitzner is accused of killing her son, Dean Shillingsworth, and dumping his body in a suitcase lined with a plastic bag at a pond in Ambarvale, near Campbelltown.

According to court documents, she picked him up by the cord of his jumper and shook him until he went limp and started to gurgle and froth at the mouth. She allegedly told police she had tried to resuscitate him by tilting back his head and breathing into his mouth.

Over in the UK, here's another insane mother story.

A British mother was found guilty on Thursday of kidnapping her own nine-year-old daughter, probably to scoop the reward money when the girl was found.

The disappearance of Shannon Matthews prompted one of the biggest searches in British history, costing over £3 million ($6.83 million), but she was found safely 24 days later in the base of a divan bed at the flat of Michael Donovan.

Donovan, 40, was convicted along with the girl's mother, 33-year-old Karen Matthews, who is from Dewsbury in northern England. He is the uncle of her former partner. Prosecutors said Donovan kept the schoolgirl drugged and imprisoned in his flat less than a mile from her home as part of a plan he and Karen Matthews hatched to claim reward money.

But back home this one is worse.

A man who stabbed his fiesty environmentalist mother to death says his only regret is that he didn't murder her 20 years ago, a Sydney court has been told.

Adam Patrick Owens, 35, of Cremorne on Sydney's North Shore, has admitted murdering his mother Doris Owens, 69, between September 6 and 9, 2006.

The body of the woman, known as a staunch environmental campaigner in the seaside village of Swanhaven, near Sussex Inlet on the NSW south coast, was not found until September 12, 2006.

Owens pleaded guilty to her murder moments before he was due to face trial last month.

During sentencing submissions in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, Owens asked for any mitigating factors to be ignored by the judge and a maximum sentence imposed.

"I knew exactly what I was doing. My intention was to kill her and anything else is incorrect," Owens told the court.

"It was quite clear what I was doing.

"I'm not in the least remorseful, nor am I repentant.

Wow, what are these people (not) thinking? A mother is a mother and they say there's nothing like a mother's love. (Spoken by a father, of course)

I'm shocked, but why? If people like Owens will not repent, if they will not be remorseful, for whatever reasons, then the world only gets worse. God help us. God help us to repent. God help us to love our mothers, our children, our friends, even our enemies. That would make God happy. And that, in turn, makes us happy. Won't it?